testtest

Prepared or Paranoid? The Vigilant Mindset

I was preparing to go into a restaurant to get our to go order when a car pulled into the slot next to me. I look over and young man inside pulls up his long sleeve black hoodie over his head and puts on sunglasses. Its 6pm, sunny and near 100 degrees. Pulls his phone out.
Well, I go in for take out.
Young man walks in full hoodie up, sunglasses on and thick sweat pants.
Several workers give him the double take.
I stared him down like a hawk.
He looked around seeing everyone staring at him. Says to the hostess at the “to go” counter.. “is there a problem” . Mgr says, “well, you look like you’re here to be up to no good”…
As most of the staff is staring at him

“Nah man, Just here for take out for name xxxxx”.
Kid felt uncomfortable and left.
Mgr gave him his food and looked at me waiting and said “I bet he is the look out to see how many folks are here”.
I leave with food and see him around end of parking lot talking with another car.
Could be 100% innocent or mgr was correct.
Either way, I was going to be vigilant.
Almost didnt go in to get my food till this person left.
 
Inusuit said:
Action Self Protection discusses "normalcy bias." People tend to assume a situation is benign when it may not be.
Click to expand...
James Yeager used to talk about this as well. I know a lot of people didn't like him but he did have some intelligent things to say. One of the things that he said is that one of the first defenses that your mind has against Danger is to deny that it's happening. He cited several instances where people were interviewed after whatever disaster happened and a large number of them the first thing they said was "I didn't believe it was really happening."

Inusuit said:
The guy in a hoodie and Covid mask approaching at a gas pump probably just wants directions to the nearest Sunday school, etc. etc.
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to pretend that I'm Joe Badass but I've been attacked. Anybody approaching me that I don't know comes up on my radar real quick and I will tell you to back up.

I'm positive I mentioned this before but I usually stop them about 10 ft out and either ask how I can help them or tell them "Sorry, I can't help you."
 
KillerFord1977 said:
I was preparing to go into a restaurant to get our to go order when a car pulled into the slot next to me. I look over and young man inside pulls up his long sleeve black hoodie over his head and puts on sunglasses. Its 6pm, sunny and near 100 degrees. Pulls his phone out.
Well, I go in for take out.
Young man walks in full hoodie up, sunglasses on and thick sweat pants.
Several workers give him the double take.
I stared him down like a hawk.
He looked around seeing everyone staring at him. Says to the hostess at the “to go” counter.. “is there a problem” . Mgr says, “well, you look like you’re here to be up to no good”…
As most of the staff is staring at him

“Nah man, Just here for take out for name xxxxx”.
Kid felt uncomfortable and left.
Mgr gave him his food and looked at me waiting and said “I bet he is the look out to see how many folks are here”.
I leave with food and see him around end of parking lot talking with another car.
Could be 100% innocent or mgr was correct.
Either way, I was going to be vigilant.
Almost didnt go in to get my food till this person left.
Click to expand...
Many years ago when I moved to Arkansas to teach at a karate school(I live in Texas now) I went to my new bank to do some banking. The tellers had seen me in their in Karate pants and heard I was the new Karate instructor of the Martial Arts school not too far from the bank.

A young guy walks in with a overcoat and asks the teller next to me for $1000 $1 bills. You can't make this stuff up. I couldn't see both of his hands, so while he was talking to the teller I quietly moved next to him(I was unarmed.).

The young man suddenly realized I was very close to him and I politely told him, "It makes most people nervous when you walk into a bank with a big trench coat and ask for $1000 worth of $1 bills."

The young man saw the look in my eyes and apologized and explained that he was going to a party and was going to "make it rain". He moved very slowly and I sensed he realized that maybe he should have been more selective of his wardrobe...:)

After the young man left, the tellers and bank manager told me how they appreciated my getting close to him and seemingly ready to take action. I've faced a few weapons over the years and I either want to get away or get close enough to go hands on. My instincts told me to get close to the young man, just in case and the martial arts training and previous experiences, took over.

I used to get great customer service at that bank. It got even better after that episode...:)

Awareness is not being paranoid, it's a form of self-preservation.

In the small town I live now, most people know that I'm a former Marine and still train/teach martial arts(One of my sisters had a karate school here for several years and I used to come down from the Dallas area to spar with some of her students. She taught mostly kids as students and most of them are adults now and live in the same area. I was a little rough with adult black belts in those days but was super gentle with kids and they always seemed like they wanted to spar with me because I let them hit me and made it seem like they knocked me out...:))
 
The Night Rider said:
James Yeager used to talk about this as well. I know a lot of people didn't like him but he did have some intelligent things to say. One of the things that he said is that one of the first defenses that your mind has against Danger is to deny that it's happening. He cited several instances where people were interviewed after whatever disaster happened and a large number of them the first thing they said was "I didn't believe it was really happening."
Click to expand...
The reason people deny that something is happening might be what's called normalcy bias. It's where people refuse to plan for or react to a danger/disaster that has never happenned before. It's the belief that since something has never happened before it will never happen in the future. That's why those people say, "I didn't believe it was really happening" they didn't think it was possible and didn't therefore didn't plan or know how to react. How many folks in the country think the threat of nuclear war is far-fetched.
 
I am always aware of my surroundings and have taught my wife and daughters to do the same. Gas stations are prime spots for car jackings, get your fuel and leave. I am always armed and watching.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top